The incidents of attacks with firearms from active shooters are on the rise in the United States and in the world. This has caused that the residents of Doral question if the city is prepared for such an event.

As per Noel Feliciano, officer of the Doral Police Department, the answer to this question is yes. “Fortunately, the City of Doral has not been a victim, so far, of the attack of an active shooter, nevertheless, on the national and worldwide arena, these violent acts are on the rise, and for this reason all our officers are ready and prepared to handle these types of situations.”

Feliciano added that on top of the training, in this area, that all the police officers from Doral receive, there is a special response group for armed attacks, this is trained, formed and ready to respond immediately to any violent act, with firearms or any other type of weapon.

Officer Feliciano also stated the importance of being educated in this subject, because these attacks are unexpected, dynamic, short (they usually last for some minutes) and impossible to predict. “An ambush from an active shooter is a sudden and violent attack with the intention to cause fear and panic, victimizing as many people as possible.”

Additionally, the statistics from the Federal Bureau of Investigation for the years 2014 and 2015 indicate that in each of these years there were 20 incidents with a firearm, which is more than any two years average in the last 16 years and almost six times more than the period between 2000 and 2001.

Speaking about recent events, we remember the Orlando shooting in June 2016 where at least 50 people lost their lives; the Fort Lauderdale shooting event where Esteban Santiago killed five people and less than 15 days ago when Steve Stephens transmitted via Facebook live the murder of Robert Godwin.

We need to mention particularly the violent attacks of the last years in colleges and universities in the United States, with one of the most remembered the Virginia Tech event, in April 16th, 2007, where 33 people lost their lives to the South Korean student, Cho Seung-hui.

UNDERSTAND, KNOW AND PROTECT YOURSELF

Facing this alarming situation, Officer Feliciano insists in the importance of being well prepared, aware and educated in this subject, for this reason he conducts conferences to inform the community about what to do and how to act in these cases, and also about the role of the police department in these events.

“These are 45 minutes conferences, through which general information about these type of attacks is offered, there is an explanation about the way in which the police responds and the training that we have for these cases, attendees are instructed on the actions that they have to take as citizens and they watch a safety video,” states Feliciano.

These conferences are offered by the Doral Police Department to the request of the communities, for this reason we invite the residents to contact this entity to get educated in this subject. You can call the Doral Police Department at: 305.593.6699, write us an email at: info@doralpd.com or visit the Police station, located at 6100 NW 99th Avenue.

You can also find useful information on how to act in case of armed attacks in the webpage of the Doral Police Department, remember always that the most important thing is to determine which is the most reasonable way to protect your life, trying to escape or hide in a safe place and in case that there is no other alternative, then trying to neutralize the shooter. You should always call 911 when it is safe. You can follow this link in order to obtain these recommendations: https://www.cityofdoral.com/police/active_shooter_poster_508.pdf.

These violent events have also conducted to the creation of institutions such as IProtect USA, a non for profit organization founded in 2016 in Miami, its goal is to educate the citizens in the prevention of violent events and in the proper ways to get protected in case of being victims of an armed attack.

Jason Rodriguez, leader and instructor of IProtect USA, agrees with Officer Feliciano in the fact that learning to defend yourself is imperative. When he references the basic notions of self defense, Rodriguez mentioned five basic points: prepare yourself, escape, hide, fight for your life and call 911.

“To get prepared implies to study and practice self defense tactics, develop an action plan, conduct role playing games and possible scenarios with family members and to those interested in carrying guns, it is very important that they have the necessary training,” indicated Rodriguez.

When he refers to the word: escape, this implies that if you hear shots, you should run and escape from the location immediately, forget about your belongings, do not wait for anyone and have an escape route. If you can not escape, Rodriguez recommends to hide in a safe place away from the shooter, block the entrances with furniture or lock the doors and be as silent as possible to avoid getting the attention of the shooter.

“Only as a last alternative and if your life is in imminent danger, you must fight. With the right training you can try to neutralize the shooter,” states Rodriguez, he also adds, “you must contact 911 as soon as possible, but only when it is safe to do it, for this you should remain calm and provide as much detailed information as possible, including the number of attackers and the description, the number of weapons and the amount of the victims.”

Once you have contacted 911 it is imperative to follow the instructions that the 911 operator is giving you, cooperate and move with the police when it is necessary, be sure that your hands are visible and open, avoid screaming or loud noises, do not make sudden or violent movements and follow the instructions of the officers.

These basic notions of safety will be described in more detail in the course: “Active Shooter Preparedness Training” that iProtect USA will be giving for free, next Saturday, May 6th, 2017 at 10:00am at 5625 NW 79th Avenue in Doral. In order to participate you should be 21 years or older and pre-register at: info@iProtectUSA.com